Boundary Riding: Different Forms for Young Readers
10.30am Saturday 30 August
Kate De Goldi
Writing and publishing for children most often settles around familiar forms – stories, novels, poetry, educational non-fiction, and comics. But what about the personal essay, flash non-fiction, multi-modal narratives, personal art responses, narrative board games, language adventures that are not quite poetry or prose? This workshop will explore the imaginative extension possible for both writer and young reader when traditional forms are pushed, prodded, and sometimes abandoned…
Senses and Setting
1pm Saturday 30 August
Catherine Chidgey
Drawing on the senses can be a powerful means of both building a believable narrator and evoking a three-dimensional setting. Novelist Catherine Chidgey shares some examples of short stories that demonstrate this skill, before leading a series of bespoke exercises for beginner to intermediate level writers. Participants will leave with a wealth of new material to be shaped into a short story – or even a piece of creative non-fiction.
Creative Non-fiction: People and Place
3pm Saturday 30 August
Harry Ricketts
We all have people and places that are special to us, that preoccupy us, lift us, puzzle us, haunt us. This class encourages you to write about people and places special to you through a combination of discussion, short exercises and workshopping.
Self-editing and Revision for Writers
10am Sunday 1 September
Simon Minto
This session looks at ways to polish writing and identify and remove empty text. Using a published story, it will explore ways to keep sentences active and make the language sparkle in the mind of the reader.
The Young Eye: Voice and Perspective
11.30am Sunday 1 September
Kate De Goldi
‘Children are new, though we are not,’ wrote the legendary children’s publisher, Ursula Nordstrum, and much of the great children’s fiction has at its heart a watchful child, scoping the wonder, puzzle, and absurdity of the new – adult driven – world they find themselves in. This workshop will explore the fictional child’s point-of-view and the business of ‘voice’, a mysterious alchemy of subject matter, point-of-view, tone, rhythm, and language.
Plotting for a Great Story
2pm Sunday 1 September
Leeanna Morgan
Do you have an awesome idea but don’t know how to transform it into a great story? Join Leeanna Morgan as she combines Michael Hauge’s six-stage plot structure with a grid board and sticky notes to create the perfect visual journey of where your story is going. Suitable for all levels and forms of writing.
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